Turkey gives US biscuit of its own dough

istanbul - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frozen assets from the US Ministers of Justice and Security in Turkey. With this measure Erdogan reacts to the sanctions that Washington imposed last week on the Turkish ministers Abdulhamit Gül (Justice) and Süleyman Soylu (Home Affairs).

According to the US, the two Turkish ministers played important roles in the arrest and detention of American cleric Andrew Brunson. The Turkish authorities arrested Brunson in 2016. Among other things, he is accused of supporting terrorist organizations, but according to the US there is no evidence for this.

Washington's sanctions will, among other things, have the effect of freezing any assets owned by Gül and Soylu in the US. Erdogan responded Saturday in a speech in which he announced the retaliatory action. He did not specify the names of the ministers, but it would be possible to go to Jeff Sessions and Ryan Zinke. 'Today I give instructions to my friends to freeze the funds of those ministers if they have funds here. '

Erdogan called the measures previously taken by the US 'inappropriate' because Turkey is a strategic partner of the US. The sanctions according to Erdogan also show a lack of respect for Turkey. Whether the Turkish ministers in the US have funds is also unclear, as are the possible assets of the American ministers in Turkey.